The Escapists
The Escapists is a campaign mostly set in and around Erradan, which is focused on the various antics of a group of criminals. The campaign begins with them escaping prison together. Evelyn Munroe is a crafty con-artist, well known for having survived the noose last time she was in prison. Catalyst is a young alchemist who, by day, is the middle child of the noble Kesford family, and by night is an alchemist for hire who uses acids and poisons to pull off extravagant heists. Jeric Arcastrian is an assassin from New Haven who uses arcane magical tricks to pull off shots no other assassin could achieve. He is often known by the alias Exitus. This campaign takes place in the year 20.88, in the month of Springward. Sessions Prologue New members of the Order of Secretkeepers are wandering the Esoteric Archives, when they come upon Archmage Ravian Nightwatch. He begins telling them an important story from Erradan. 1: Locked Up 1''7th Springward'' Brief Summary Evelyn, Catalyst and Jeric all arrive at prison and are chucked into their cells. They get to know their cellmates, Bloody Alice, Little Kieth and Wilson Greene respectively. They go through the motions of prison life, being observant and paying attention to the way things work. At breakfast they all gravitate towards one another, being fellow newbies, and began to formulate a plan. At the end of cafeteria time, Evelyn sees a man she thought was dead; Jayce Ironjaw. Later, at yard time, the group spoke to Vaughn Vernonwood, who offered for the group to join his escape plan if they proved themselves worthy. They meet Switchblade, who seems to be able to smuggle items in and can trade with the players. Catalyst manages to pick-pocket a key from a guard. They also encountered Leyla of the Mists, a mysterious woman said to be second-in-command of the Children of the Mist. Later, Jeric and Evelyn signed up for work in the prison. 2: Eat Sh*t 1''8th-19th Springward'' Brief Summary The players begin the second day as normal. While mopping, Jeric finds a map, which he memorises. While doing laundry, Evelyn steals a guard officer's uniform. Upon discovering where the infirmary is, the players decide for one of them to intentionally become sick, to give them an excuse to get to the second floor. Jeric also steals a spoon, which he manages to snap to make a shiv, he trades this with Switchblade for a set of lockpicks. During shower time, Evelyn changes into the guard uniform and sneaks out. Catalyst takes some feces from his cell toilet and crafts a sickening mixture. Jeric eats this as Evelyn arrives, and becomes violently sick. Evelyn takes him to the infirmary, and also takes some chemicals from there to give to Catalyst later. She walks around the prison as an officer, and makes her way to the mental ward, where she meets Muselvig the Mad. She manages to take some of his paint. The next day, the group plan to poison all the guards. Vaughn is found to be missing, and Switchblade tells the players that they need to escape tonight, because the boat will be there. Catalyst gets a job in the kitchen and using several acquired chemicals, poisons all the guards. Evelyn gets into her guard uniform again, and during cafeteria time, Jeric starts a riot. Catalyst escapes through the back door of the kitchens, and Evelyn and Jeric free Vaughn and steal their stuff from the confiscation lockers. Vaughn and Bloody Alice fight the Warden, and the fight takes them outside. Jeric manages to shoot the warden in the head, and they all escape on the boat. Once they arrive back at the city, Catalyst goes back home, and Jeric and Evelyn go to the King's Cup Pub 3: Grand Theft Pharaoh 23rd Springward Brief Summary Catalyst, Jeric and Evelyn are reunited by Claw, second in command to Vaughn Vernonwood, and given some contracts to do. They decide to heist the manor of Nigel Freymore, a job which involves stealing many ancient Izirian Artifacts, especially an item referred to as the "Diadem of Fahraki". The group scout out the manor, noticing the presence of Free Company guards. Evelyn manages to get an in-depth tour of the manor by pretending to want a job at the manor and deceiving the housekeeper. Jeric assassinates a Free Company guard and steals his uniform. The group then have a meal they don't pay for at a local Calamaran restaurant, and decide to steal the sarcophagus of King Shuhayal Am-Ashaam in Freymore's study. They steal a hearse from the Esterfield cemetary, killing a stablemaster and locking Father Arnold, an elderly priest of Athin, in a cupboard. Evelyn poses as a Free Company guard and gets a position guarding the study. Jeric breaks in through the balcony and makes his way into the study, stealing things as he goes. They discover that the Diadem is in the sarcophagus, and together carry it through the building and lower it out the window using the grappling hook. They then stuff it in the hearse and make their way back to the King's Cup Pub, delivering the stolen goods to Switchblade. 4: The Upside-Down House 24th - 25th Springward Brief Summary The group are given a contract to destroy and intimidate a group of dissenters called the Red Dragons, who have been attacking members of the Children of the Mist and causing divides in the criminal factions of the city. They first go to the Children of the Mist, and are taken by canal boat into their headquarters, where they meet up again with Leyla of the Mists, and encounter the Prophetess Narhanata. The group then investigate the Red Dragons, and Evelyn has a run-in with Jayce. They decide to research exactly what is up with him not dying, and encounter an eccentric sorcerer called Zardell, whose uncontrollable arcane magic means he spends most of his time with gravity flipped. They discover that Jayce may be suffering from "The Curse of the Eternal", meaning he cannot be killed by normal means. 5: Dying of Dysentery 26th Springward Brief Summary The Group decide to blow up the Red Dragons warehouse. Evelyn speaks to a criminal engineer named Jonathan Cole, and becomes friends with him, and he tells her how to craft explosives. Evelyn learns that he was an Imperial Engineer deserter from Varawyn, and that he has a grudge against the University of Erradan. The others sneak through underground tunnels, encounter some strange figures, and plant the explosives underneath the warehouse. The warehouse blows up, and chaos ensues. Police soon arrive at the scene. Evelyn does her best to incite rumours that Ironjaw was behind the explosion. On the way back to the King's Cup with Leyla of the Mists, Evelyn offends her and gets pushed off the boat. From the horrible waters of the Eastwyrm river, Evelyn catches all sorts of diseases and goes to hospital. Back at the pub, Jeric is approached by a young attractive Erdannian woman who calls herself Princess. She gives him a job to assassinate a Hirokiri Ambassador. 6: The Great Caterpillar Heist 27th Springward Brief Summary The group accept another job from Vaughn to discredit or eliminate a certain incorruptible policeman by the name of Ander Rothwin, and set out to discover how they can put this plan into place. Evelyn infiltrates the police force, Jeric breaks into Ander's house, and Catalyst... Catalyst goes to the zoo and steals some poisonous caterpillars. Why? Nobody quite knows. Jeric uncovers that Ander has some secret correspondance with a Whytehold knight, who appears to be his secret lover. Evelyn investigates a crime scene completely unrelated to anything they've done, where a scientist was slain and a runic mark placed on the wall. 7: Annoying Receptionists 28th Springward Brief Summary This week on the Escapists; Evelyn infiltrates the postal system, Catalyst fails his driving test, Jeric murders an accountant, and the group engage in a long philosophical conversation. 8: Exitus Stage Left 29th Springward Brief Summary Deciding to go ahead with the Hirokiri job, Jeric uses the persona he has from the accountant to try and infiltrate the embassy, but is swiftly discovered to be lying. He is then locked up in a cellar, but escapes, his his captor, and recovers his equipment. He manages to sneak through the building, finding the ambassador's bedchamber empty. He discovers the ambassador is in a room that contains some sort of shrine, where they had been planning to sacrifice Jeric. He then embarks on a murder spree, assassinating bodyguards and emissaries one by one in a variety of spectacular ways. Here are some of them: He kills many people with portal antics. He wraps a rope around one guard's neck, wraps the other half around a crenellation, and jumps off the roof with the rope. After being tackled to the ground, he pulls out a grenade and rolls it a short distance away. The body of the guard protects him from the blast. At the final confrontation against the ambassador on the roof, where the man is casting magical spells to harm Jeric and burn away his mana, he manages to shoot the ambassador off the roof, where he falls down, down, off the side of the building and down a cliff. When finally confronted by many Royal Guard, Jeric leaps off the cliff and swan dives into the sea. Returning home, he is heavily rewarded by Princess, and sets out making his own lair. 9: Milo & Me 29th Springward Brief Summary Catalyst is pulled aside by Vaughn Vernonwood, who now trusts him, to do a special mission. He, Claw, and Switchblade are to rescue a very important young man from the clutches of the Evolved Society. 10: Back to School 30th-31st Springward Evelyn and Catalyst are annoyed that Jeric acted out without them, but they are distracted by an interesting job given to them by Switchblade, to retrieve an artifact called the Eye of Daedalus, which can be found at the University of Erradan. Evelyn decides to kill two birds with one stone, and also help out Jonathan Cole with getting his blueprints back. 11: F*cking Erdannian Engineering 32nd Springward 12: The Shopping Episode 33rd Springward 13: A Thorn in my Side 34th Springward While Evelyn is busy infiltrating the police, Jeric decides to tell Catalyst about the Bespoke job, and inquires on his knowledge of university professors. Catalyst agrees to help. Catalyst heads to the university, as William Kesford, and talks to some of his old university professors who might have been connected to Bespoke. He discovers that Professor Thomasson is dead, and Professor Trimmenere has left to do some work in the factory district. Meanwhile Jeric seeks out the reporter Mitch Woodpecker, and finds a mysterious figure exiting the reporter's apartment via window. After threatening the figure and both going inside, he sees the dead body of Mitch Woodpecker, and a fight with the mysterious figure ensues. After the figure injures Jeric, he reveals that he is Thorn, the personal assassin of the Evolved Society. He lets Jeric live, but warns him against getting in his way again. Looking around Woodpecker's apartment, Jeric discovers a half-written letter to the Prophetess Narhanata, describing how Bespoke had been making deals with a gang. He also discovers that a large rune has been written on the wall, which merely states "Silence". The two re-convene and head to Bespoke Augments. They break in the back door, which is trapped to release gas, but Jeric is not too badly affected by this. Inside is a dark workshop, and they step on a pressure pad, which closes the door behind them and causes a radio message to blare out, warning them that they are doomed. The two head through the shop, which is filled with various traps, until they arrive at Bespoke's office. Nobody is inside, but Jeric discovers a few letters which contain interesting information relating to the Freymore mansion, the Fisher Gang, and plans for a mysterious clockwork golem factory. Catalyst finds a hidden door behind the bookcase, which contains complex plans for clockwork golem mass-manufacture, seemingly created in one of Bespoke's dreams. Jeric also finds some pills, with a message from a woman named Cecelia, supposedly to help with headaches. While about to leave, the two hear Thorn arrive, and a fight with the augmented assassin ensues. Milo attempts to grapple and shock him, but spikes appear all over Thorn's body and he severely harms the mutant salamandar. Eventually Catalyst and Milo pin down Thorn, and Jeric shoots him, but Thorn gets up a moment later and severely injures Jeric. Thorn tries to escape, but Jeric shoots him in the back, and pours acid over him to make sure he never gets back up. The two realise that the building is surrounded by police. Jeric steals Thorn's grappling hook launcher, and uses the Idol of the Closed Eye to successfully escape, but Catalyst is spotted as they flee. The two return to the King's Cup to rest. 14: Scavenger Hunt 34th Springward Characters Player Characters Evelyn Munroe Jeric Arcastrian Catalyst/William Kesford Followers/Friendly NPCs Vaughn Vernonwood Switchblade Wilson Greene Little Kieth Blood Alice Burned Ruby Leyla of the Mists Claw Zardell Tobias Vernonwood Neutral/Unknown Alignment Alexi Pietr Muselvig Governor Nigel Freymore Jonathan Cole Prophetess Narhanata Princess Shazad Al-Fadil Akalak Keytazuma Zo'Vol Itzli Sun Hyun Penelope Highwater Jared Joysong Zuma Antagonists Warden Ramsey Highcastle Jayce Ironjaw Ander Rothwin Madame Jindong Professor Oden Bespoke Thorn Alexandria Casserick Eltroy Trimmenere Involved Factions The Erdannian Empire The Constabulary The Black Dragon Brotherhood The Children of the Mist The Rat Kingdom The Free Company The Evolved Society